FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 1. (Living on £4,000 a year)

rictus123

Morning everyone! Didnt win the Euromillions last night so plan is no holiday this summer....Cant imagine what the first thing i would do if i won was. Probs pay off the measly £1400 loan iv got lol. Then id scrap my van straight away. Wouldnt even give it away to someone its that bad! Its mot is due on the 22nd next month so i might put it in next week. Not got much plans for today, just relax and listen to music while on the laptop then over to the gfs at tea time. Spent £21 on desiel last night, so sig has been updated. Today will be a NSD i think/ hope

rozeepozee

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Afternoon peeps,

I have some money saved up and rather than get a loan from a bank for the rest, my OH's mum has offered to lend us the money. We would be able to pay her back in less than a year. So, yes, in theory we would have the money for a new car in less than a year anyway, but we would be worse off because of the lack of scrappage scheme.

Anyway, all in theory at the moment as we haven't looked at any cars yet and need to make sure we are eligible etc.

Sorry, guess this makes for boring reading, maybe I should've posted it on the motoring board!

Right, off now to read what you folks have been up to.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Hi Lily, we've just bought a new campervan and were surprised by the amount the dealer was willing to discount. I first of all emailed about ten dealers all over the country and then played them off one against the other. We ended up saving 10% off the list price and could have had some accessories/extras thrown in had we been willing to travel to a far flung dealer to collect. The last car I bought brand new, I was a naive 23 year old and just paid what the dealer asked without thinking there was room for haggling :eek:. Annoyingly, our car is only 9 and a half years old so we just miss out on the scrappage scheme - we would certainly have been better off it it had.

DP put the fruit trees in yesterday and then announced that he's read that it's not good to put them in when it's frosty - hope they survive! I've just looked outseide (confess I haven't ben out in the garden since the snows!) and my poor little olive, my piece of the Med, hasn't survived from the looks of things... that'll teach me to bring things indoors - this twin pregnancy has been so all consuming that many things I would ordinarily do have gone by the wayside. Still, only about 7 weeks to go now til these girls appear.

lynzpower

Morning all :wave:

Oh well Im feeling in a a wonderful mood this morning. :j :j

1) OH is workign today for overtime, very generously paid :j So thats fab for him. Plus that means I can potter about the house. I have lots of potterings to do today

2) I dropped OH at work this morning ( it is only a 5 min drive) and the weather here in the Capital is absolutely beautiful. As we were out nice and early hardly a car or person on the road and the view of the Houses of parliament and the Thames Views on this bright crisp morning made us feel very grateful and happy. Truly a beautiful day. Its lovely and warm too ( well by our lack of central heating standards!) and I am sat here in a T shirt and dogs bed is in front of the sun coming in through the window.

At 10 past 8 I was down at the Freecyclers house collecting the new-to-us fridge freezer :j :j HOW WONDERFUL. Its in great nick, and is currently in the back of the van awaiting OH coming home to get it up the stairs with me. I'm so pleased with this its in such great condition we will not have to buy another ( all being well with it once its plugged in !) for ages! :beer:

On way back from free-cyclers I thought Id pop into the Mr M & Mr S to pick from their bargains, we needed a few things - cocoa, almonds, milk, dishcloths, rice. i haven't done a meal plan and v anxious of buying more meat for the freezer till Im sure that the new free freezer actually works.

I think Im going to work on the roof today, and start some veg off in the propagator. Im also going to tackle the under stairs cupboard and see if I can find any items for the charity shop, as we take more stuff in, I want to see more stuff going out the door!

Would love to know if anyone here grows nuts. I know its hardly likely we can do so in a growbag lol, but the idea of an almond or walnut tree ( especially as these are so expensive to buy) would be fantastic!

Hope everyone has a fab weekend, hugs to anyone that needs them xxx

rictus123

Iv been looking at cars and dreaming! Know it cant be too good for me but its a reminder of why iv got to be frugal now, so i can get the finer things in life when i want them!

BigMummaF

rictus123 wrote: »

....1.19 this year and mummys still telling her what to do, ....2. Dont really know what else i can do besides laptop and tv. Some Friday night for an 18 year old! 3. Ahwell its frugal

1. I suggest you keep your post & look at it again when you have a 19 year old child
2. Maybe, but just think how much you'll appreciate your next night out--kinda like the build-up to going on holiday!
3. That's the spirit :T Every cloud=silver lining n all that
I crocheted a teacosy for me muvva one crimbo & made a matching cover for the toaster too Lynz. I made it up as I went along & just used odds & ends I already had & added a blue trim to match in with her newly decorated kitchen.
I use loose tea sometimes too Looby, & if someone is giving it as gift please remember to give a strainer too :rotfl:And I can sympathsise over the lack of spaces to start off seeds cuz we don't have windowsills anywhere sunny or otherwise. Our milkman left a Spring Garden Offers leaflet this morning with--among other things-- 3.5kg wild bird food "only" £5:65; 3 metre cloche polytunnel £9:99 & something that looks like those take-away cups you have for coffee £1:79 ea/2-£3, but these are for growing herbs, peppers & tomatoes & I quote:- "No garden needed-grow in the pot on the window sill". Having said that, the zinc patio strawberry bucket filled with compost & runners looks very tempting but not sure the £7:49 is a good deal or not :think:
Following on from Erme's suggestion for the bicarb books etc, I did wonder if you were able to take the tips you like from this site & print them off into a lever arch file to give as a gift? Not sure how the copyright thing would work for that tho...
Oh Nuala--I'm trying very hard not to look at that link..there's too many half-finished projects here now without me starting something else _pale_ I seem to have the attention span of a gnat's armpit just lately so really need to kick mesen up the proverbials & the sooner, the better!

candygirl

Hiya peeps:j:j
Having a very frugal day today, will prob only be spending about £2 on a lottery ticket and bread;)Having poorly Boo for the afternoon, and am taking her out in the fresh air to perk her up a bit :DShe has a sickness bug and I think she needs fresh air to help kill the germs off, but I am old fashioned:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Had a fab n funny night out last night, and we ended up drinking guiness!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek:
Have fabby frugal days everyone xx:A

rictus123

BigMummaF wrote: »

1. I suggest you keep your post & look at it again when you have a 19 year old child
2. Maybe, but just think how much you'll appreciate your next night out--kinda like the build-up to going on holiday!
3. That's the spirit :T Every cloud=silver lining n all that
I crocheted a teacosy for me muvva one crimbo & made a matching cover for the toaster too Lynz. I made it up as I went along & just used odds & ends I already had & added a blue trim to match in with her newly decorated kitchen.
I use loose tea sometimes too Looby, & if someone is giving it as gift please remember to give a strainer too :rotfl:And I can sympathsise over the lack of spaces to start off seeds cuz we don't have windowsills anywhere sunny or otherwise. Our milkman left a Spring Garden Offers leaflet this morning with--among other things-- 3.5kg wild bird food "only" £5:65; 3 metre cloche polytunnel £9:99 & something that looks like those take-away cups you have for coffee £1:79 ea/2-£3, but these are for growing herbs, peppers & tomatoes & I quote:- "No garden needed-grow in the pot on the window sill". Having said that, the zinc patio strawberry bucket filled with compost & runners looks very tempting but not sure the £7:49 is a good deal or not :think:
Following on from Erme's suggestion for the bicarb books etc, I did wonder if you were able to take the tips you like from this site & print them off into a lever arch file to give as a gift? Not sure how the copyright thing would work for that tho...
Oh Nuala--I'm trying very hard not to look at that link..there's too many half-finished projects here now without me starting something else _pale_ I seem to have the attention span of a gnat's armpit just lately so really need to kick mesen up the proverbials & the sooner, the better!

Well 1. Id like to think id teach them to drive good enough that i could trust them to drive to the conditions if theres a bit of ice:p 2. Exactly and now im glad of the relaxing night in doing sweet fa and 3. i love being frugal as im managing to hold onto my money which is what i need to do. If i get by on £500 a month between now and next summer il have more than £10k

Thriftkitten

Hi Candy girl, I feel your pain having a poorly boo myself last night, spent most of the afternoon and evening up and down the stairs holding hair out of the bucket(bless her)
I tried to organise a beach run for the kids and dogs but daughter isn't up to it quite yet and although no more stairs runs for hair holding, she isn't quite ready as tummy is aching still.
Frugally cooking up batches of flapjacks for kids packups for next week and about to make some cupcakes for the others to sell outside as they are having a little yard sale and selling all their unwanted bits for 10p when I saved and spent a small fortune buying them Grrr, well at least they are excited about earning a few pennies and I wont have to dish out pocket money this weekend so hey ho!!!
Hope all are having a frugalsome weekend, sun is out but is very cold, we managed to dodge the snow here but thoughts go out to all the families who have lost someone this weekend due to the weather conditions, according to cornish radio stations there have been 3 fatalities in the area this weekend due to weather conditions.

candygirl wrote: »

Hiya peeps:j:j
Having a very frugal day today, will prob only be spending about £2 on a lottery ticket and bread;)Having poorly Boo for the afternoon, and am taking her out in the fresh air to perk her up a bit :DShe has a sickness bug and I think she needs fresh air to help kill the germs off, but I am onld fashioned:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Had a fab n funny night out last night, and we ended up drinking guiness!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek:
Have fabby frugal days everyone xx:A

candygirl

Hope your little un gets better soon THRIFTKITTEN:DI'm gonna give Boo some natural yoghurt to put a lining in her little tum :D

grandma247

rictus it not always the driving abilities of your loved one you worry about it is idiots on the road. I had a friend who had a very bad smash a number of years ago and it almost killed her then but she lived for a few years after that in great pain. The other driver was drunk and it was icy. my friend had done the extra driving course (can't remember what it is called) but she could not avoid her accident.